“I’m just checking them now...” She closed down the email from Snowpeaks and scanned her inbox. “I don’t see one.”

“I sent it thirty seconds ago, hit Refresh,” he said.

No doubt he believed she was sitting around in a hotel room somewhere, clicking Refresh a thousand times. He’d be shocked to know what she’d really been doing on this vacation.

“Is it there yet?”

Man, he was impatient. And slightly frantic. “What’s wrong with you?” She was usually the high-strung one. Then the email popped up.

A forwarded email from her father. The subject line made her mouth gape.

“He’s selected the clinical trial study patients without me?”

“I couldn’t believe it either.”

While it was surprising, it wasn’t completely out of character. This wasn’t the first time her father’s executive decision-making had left her out in the cold. Working with him on the new drug had tested her, but she believed in what they were doing.

“When do you get back?” Darren asked.

“Not for another nine days.” She stared at the list of participants. If only her father had made a mistake, she could call him and let him know that not waiting for her was wrong. However, each candidate was exactly what she would have chosen. How could she be upset? And the main thing was that the trials were approved and would be starting soon.

She’d be back before they did.

“You’re not upset?”

“He did a great job choosing the candidates.”

“I’d be pissed,” Darren said. “You sound...different.”

She felt different. “I’ll see you soon, Darren. Thank you for letting me know.”

She disconnected the call and forced a breath. “Damn it, Dad.” She really should call him, but what could she say? There was always too much to say, but neither of them did.

Her mother’s funeral had marked not only the end of their time with her, but also of the closeness Erika and her dad had once shared.

After everyone else had left that day, she’d found him alone in his office. Head in his hands, sitting behind his desk. Throughout the ceremony, he’d stood stoic, unemotional, and as they’d lowered her mother’s casket, he’d stared expressionless.

But finally, he was showing his devastation. Alone.

“Dad?”

He’d glanced up and his red-rimmed eyes looked pained for a moment before he’d sat straighter, clearing his throat. “Did you need something?”

Yes—comfort, reassurance...a hug.

They’d barely spoken since her mother died a few days before and she was struggling with sadness and a feeling of helplessness. They hadn’t had time to process their grief yet and she was depending on him to help her through it.